The Barefoot Contessa Page #4

is history

Movie history. The facts and figures

and fantasy of Maria's success

There are some, though, you

wouldn't have found in the textbooks

You've seen it and

read it a thousand times

It's one of the most tiresome

clichs of storytelling

It really happens once

or twice in a generation

But that first test of Maria Vargas

lit up all the lights

in show business

I had taken it upon myself

to invite the highest movie

brass I could find in Rome

Mr Black of America, Monsieur Blue

of France, and Mr Brown of England

The difference between European

and American movie magnates

is astonishing

There is absolutely none

Kirk, my dear fellow, I know

just what you have in mind

I couldn't agree more.

A British production...

I've got the perfect story...

You're not the type

to fool around with...

Now just a minute,

gentleman. In the first place

this young lady is

under exclusive contract

to Mr Kirk Edwards, of course

He cannot discuss her future

availability at this time

Secondly, this was a private showing

of a private test which

belongs to Mr Edwards

And I consider your presence here

highly irregular and unethical

Are you out of your mind,

Muldoon? You invited me

- Who, me?

- You must remember asking me

You suggested I come

in after the lights were out

in case I disturbed Mr Edwards

- Boss, I swear to you on my life...

- What about it, Harry?

I'm afraid I'm the guilty one.

I invited you, gentlemen

I used Oscar's name

because, franquely

I was afraid you

wouldn't be into my name

- What is your name, monsieur?

- He's Harry Dawes

I imagined you'd be

a much older man, Mr Dawes

I was, up to the

minute I saw this test

I'm flying to Paris tonight, Harry.

Drop in this afternoon

- I'm at the Excelsior

- Sorry, Max

- Not business. Just old friends

- How old? Since the test?

Why'd you have us come here, Harry?

Well, I should have

checked with Oscar Muldoon

It's not really a

director's function

But in Mr Edwards' organisation,

we all do all sorts of things

I wanted to make sure

that the leaders of our industry

knew about the contribution

Mr Edwards was going to make to it

"Alors," it was a "grand plaisir"

May I offer a ride

to any one of you?

I'll take you up on

that, if I may, Ren

- See you in London

- Au revoir, messieurs

Any time this afternoon,

Harry, if you get the chance

- Sorry, Max

- I'm at the Excelsior

Well, it's a great art we're

doing business in, gentlemen

Everybody be happy

Her make-up's too dark and too much

Hair and wardrobe have

got to be much more simple

No tricks. The less between

her and the camera, the better

The voice is good. Well placed

I don't want a voice

coach within a mile of her

How much closer will "you" be?

- What's that?

- How much closer have you been?

To Maria?

Coming from anybody else

that would be a compliment

What were those men doing here?

I've not answered

your first question yet

- I know the answer

- No, you don't

You won't admit it

It'd mean something is

possible between men and women

besides the few,

simple, physiological

relationships you know about

OK, that answer will satisfy

the Screenwriters Guild

Now tell us why you

planted those men in here

Maybe your master knows the answer

to that too, or doesn't wanna know

- I wanna know

- It's pretty long

We got the room booked

for the whole morning

It won't take that long

Kirk, Maria's made a chump out

of you. She's laughed at you

And you won't do

better. You'll do worse

Now, this pleases me and

frightens me. Because I know you

You're capable of destroying

a woman who's laughed at you

You've destroyed women who

loved you, so why not Maria?

And you're capable of burning

that test, as great as it is

and making it known she

had nothing worth testing

But right now, the name

and fame of Maria Vargas

is on its way to New York,

Hollywood, London and Paris.

- Does that answer your question?

- You can't get away with this

You're being disloyal, Oscar. You're

stealing dialogue from television

And you lied to those gentlemen

You can be forgiven

beaucause It's your job to lie

But you lied when you said

Maria was under contract to Kirk

- Isn't she?

- Well, I...

Those were your exact instructions,

Kirk, so don't punish Oscar for it

No contract till after

the test, remember?

You were going to use it

for one more pitch

Well, right now, it's after the test

And Maria Vargas will not

sign a contract with you

She's under contract

to "you. " Is that it?

Kirk, if ever a characterisation

followed a straight line, yours does

No, she's not under contract to

me because I'm not in that business

But what I tell Maria

to do, she will do

With her shoes on, that is

What's her shoes

got to do with it?

Nothing. Of course, you can

call off the production right now

Write it off, write me off and Maria

The government will pay

for most of it anyway

And I'll go see Max Black at

the Excelsior this afternoon

All right, let's go back to

Hollywood and make this movie

After that, Maria's on her own

And you can keep on looking for

new faces. The world's full of 'em

But you'll never find another Maria

You will find what you're

looking for, I'm sure

- Harry...

- Hm?

Nothin'

If ever a funeral laid

an egg, that one did

Standing round the grave, maybe

two dozen nobodies. A great finish

You just don't bury

a famous movie star

like she was an unidentified body

Well, it figured. It was like that

from the minute I laid eyes on her

Nothing worked according

to the book. Not my book, anyway

From the minute she waved

at the Statue of Liberty

everybody wanted to know

everything about Maria

And they wound up knowing nothing,

because there was nothing to know

Believe me, what they

said in Madrid was true

This bundle of passion, this hot

flame that burned from the screen

was a real untouchable

The columns and the wolves

were after me night and day

But how could I tell them

who she was with or when

when I didn't even

know who she knew?

I can tell you this:

It is entirely possible

that Maria D'Amata went to her grave

without ever being

inside of the Stork

El Morocco, Ciro's or the Mocambo

You got to admit this is not normal

But what was normal about this

whole business from start to finish?

Here is a doll who, on the

opening night of her first picture

with no known interest

in men, much less romance

whose private life

is strictly private

but who, the people have

decided, is already a star

This is the night I

first begin to think

maybe the public

has a mind of its own

Who else but Maria D'Amata would

show up at her world premiere alone

together with a couple

that everybody knew were

in love with each other?

It was real love

with Harry and Jerry

You could tell it was

because they didn't give out

interviews about getting married

Maria D'Amata. Whatever it is

- you name it

Whether you're born with it

or catch it from a public

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